As often happened with Gardella, his designs were born from a specific need in an architectural project, and Galleria is no different.

When designing the staircase at the GAM (Galleria d’Arte Moderna - Modern Art Gallery) in Milan, which leads to the Grassi family's art collection, the architect needed strong wall lighting. He studied a series of wall plaques from which emerged tubes surmounted by sober lampshades, to spread as much light as possible. From these the entire Galleria family was born, with one to five arms, which make them extremely versatile.